National Republican., 1887-07-30
PNEUMATIC GUN CARRIAGES.
Another New York Paper Says They
aIn,,id In Adnptcd nv nur Navy.

should bo Adopted by Our Navy.
The New York Times Of July 90, 1887,
says edtorlally the pneumatic gun carriage
is reeded by the navy. The editorial is as
follows;
Secretary Whitney's appointment OF
board of naval officers to report upon tho
condition Of the Atlanta will no doubt re-
suit in throwing all needed light upon the
causes OF the failure of the new cruiser's
battery during the late brief trial in Gardl
ner's bay. Capt. Ramsay, the president OF
the board, Is himself the commanding officer
of the Boston, this Atlanta's twin ship, so
that he mutt have special interest iu the
inquiry, while Commander Goodrich, Lieut..
Cowden, Constructor IIichborn, and Assist
ant Constructor Nixon are also experts In
their task
Meanwhile the report made to Capt. +.
NJ. Bunce by Lieuts. CIason and Taylor,
and Carpenter Cooper, OF the Atlanta,
have already catalogued with precision the
injuries sustained by the vessel and its 1T
tlugs In consequence Of the tirings. They
include the breaking OF wash basins, glass,
aud the marble top OF the steam coil, the
destruction Of various chests and boxes,
the breaking OF door locks and hasps, the
opening Of seams in some OF the boats, the
blowing overheard OF a door or two, aud the
tearing of others from their hinges, the
liberal smashing Of electric light bulbs, the
leaking of deck lights, and SO on. Capt:
Bunce describes these damages as "trivlal,"
but adds that "the action Of the forces
Generatedn is too important to neg
lect. While each individual item of
damage Is not serious In character or
amount, these items are numbered by scores,
and II must be remembered that the dam
age was all done by the firing Of only two
rounds from each gun, one OF them being
with less than the full service charge. Tne
practice, too, was in comparatively st!ll
water. Above all, the battery Itself was
badly damaged, the result Of the iiring be-
ing, in Capt. Bunces language, ''to CON.
pletely disable both S-inch breech-loa1ing
gun carriages and to throw doubt upon the
efficiency OF the G-inch breech-loading gun
carriages and the pouuder rapid fire gun
mounts" The clips and clip circles are
said to have been started and to have failed
to hold the carriages 10 the case of the pivot
guns, as well as In that Of some OF the g.
inch guns. This disabling Of the battery is
far more important than the minor injuries
that occurred to the joiner worH, the cleo
tric light plant, and the cabin windows.
The first point to note is that there was
no Indication Of failure or shortcoming Of
any kind In the guns themselves. The fault
was entirely In the carriages aud their at.
taehments. This Ia q most important dis
Of the guns is that on which all the new
naval ordnance is now turned out. It has
been suggested that part Of the difficulty
may have come from the spring Of the
arched deck, but the gear of both the Snch
| pieces was disarraDged or broken, SO that
while strengthening the hull and provi1ing
| heavier clips will be resorted to the system
of carrisges is likely to be pronounced In
| adequate for these powerful guns
Another pOint To notice Ia that the de-
| fccts in the Atlanta's gun carriages were
| observed long ago, during the test tring5
| OF her S-inch rifles on the Annapolis prov
ing grounds. Difficulties were encountered
with the gear at that time, and the opinion
was expressed by some officers that, while
the guns themselves seemed to be at least
| equal to any OF their caliber In the world,
there was general lnadequacy, II not radi-
cal defect, in the mechanism and appli-
ances for handling and operating the
| pieces. Some mistakes were discovered aud
| some alterations and adjustments made,
but there was no little apprehension among
many officers that the precise disaster
would take place which has occurred.
| While the damage done In the Gardiner g
bay friDgs is annoying and expensive, 1t
seems probable that its repetition can be
largely avoided by the substitution of better
| gun carriages and other operating mechan-
| ism. This is process that will take time, and
meanwhile efforts are likely to be made to
improve the present apparatus. The uney-
| pected restriction In the power to pivot the
| guns said to have been disclosed by the
trial will doubtless be carefully studied.
The defect noted by Capt. Bunce in the ar
rangement of the battery, by which 'soms
of the guns have to be abandoned by their
crews that the other guns may be fired at
the target" is pr sumably due to the plan
mig OF the vessel; but SO far as the car
riages ere concerned, the new pneumatic
| gun carriage is expected to be entirely ade
| quate for holding the S-inch naval gun
and checking Its recoil, as we'll as for hand
lily loading and training 1t. The one speci
men of this apparatus now In use at Sandy
Hook by the army has proved very effect
i've, and second has been ordered for ex.
pertinent by the navy. Meanwhile 1t /:
clear that the Atlanta is serving useful, Il
costly purposes OF experiment, aud the de
fects developed in her should be avoided
as far as possible in her immediate success
sors and altogether in the vessels yet to bC
planned.